In Harm's Way
by bionic4ever
Summary: FDNH2: Steve chose bionics for Jaime in the past. What will she do when she must make a similar choice for herself?  Thank you to Julie, and to all the members of The Bionic Project, for their input and advice.
1. Prologue

**In Harm's Way**

Prologue

The wheelchair sailed through the air, barely missing Steve's head and hitting the far wall of Jaime's hospital room with an angry THUD.

"Sweetheart," Steve said patiently, "I know you're frustrated." (Her extremely out of character display of temper proved that!) "You have every right to be -"

"I'm not frustrated, Steve," Jaime insisted in a soft, clear voice. "I am _done_."

"What are you talking about?"

"That damn chair – I'm done; not using it anymore. I won't!"

"Jaime -"

"I mean it! The three months is up, and I've worked so hard! I've gone through all the therapies, done every exercise they prescribed and even done as much extra work as the doctors will let me get away with, and I'm still no closer to walking than I was three months ago. Well, I'm tired, and I'm done trying so hard – for nothing!"

Steve's heart broke for her. Just over five months earlier, Jaime had been shot in the hip while trying to find Rudy and Callahan after they'd been kidnapped. It would have been a simple wound, easily healed, had she stayed in her hospital bed, but instead she'd completed the rescue herself, in spite of her injury. The bullet had shifted, causing serious nerve damage and leaving Jaime unable to walk. At the time, Rudy and Michael had been unable to tell if the damage would heal – or if it was permanent.

Once she was released from the hospital, Steve had remained staunchly at Jaime's side through three months of rigorous, exhausting physical therapy, and her efforts to work through the pain and _get it done _had been heroic. He could understand her discouragement, but Steve wasn't about to let Jaime give up now.

"They said that at three months they'd be able to tell us more," he reminded her gently. "It might be awhile yet before you're back to normal."

"I've been here for four days now, they've put me through every test ever invented – most of 'em twice – and no one has told me anything! Steve, I need to know...is this as good as it gets for me?"

Steve saw that she was struggling to keep from crying, and he placed a loving arm around her in a gesture of comfort. "I'll talk to Rudy," he promised.

"Whatever it is – no matter how terrible – I just wanna know!"

Steve nodded, reaching out to tenderly brush away the tears that, in spite of her best efforts, were pearling on Jaime's cheeks.

- - - - - -


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter One

"We haven't talked to Jaime yet," Michael explained, "because we needed to be absolutely certain what we were dealing with first."

"Now that we do know," Rudy added, "we just haven't found the words to tell Jaime..."

Steve flinched slightly, bracing himself for the worst. "What is it? I mean, she can stand – sort of – and even take a step, holding my arm, but she should be a lot further along physically, shouldn't she?"

"The damage was more serious than we thought, Steve," Rudy told him. "In addition to severed nerves and damage to the surrounding tendons and tissue, Jaime appears to have lost a significant percentage of the bone mass in her hip; deterioration due to the original injury."

"The deterioration may grow worse," Michael went on, "but even if it remains at the present level, there is no possibility of Jaime being able to walk in that condition."

Steve swallowed hard. "Never...?"

"There is one possible solution," Michael continued. "Rudy and I could extend Jaime's bionics up through her hips, but it would have to be on both sides for her body to maintain equilibrium. That should enable her to function normally again, but..." his voice trailed off.

Steve understood. "That'll make her over fifty percent bionic; she's always coped by saying she was more human than bionic."

Michael nodded. "We know she'll have a lot of trouble dealing with this, even presented in the best possible light."

"She's already having a lot of trouble – she just threw her wheelchair across the room – damn near conked me in the head with it, too. Still, it's the hope she's been looking for. I'm not sure how she'll react, but I want to be there when you tell her; I think she's gonna need me."

- - - - - -

Jaime stared out the window, not meeting anyone's eyes. "How much over fifty percent?" she asked in a near-whisper.

"It's impossible to predict before the actual procedure takes place," Michael explained. "It could be anywhere from 52 or 53, up to around 60."

"We'll never know, then," Jaime announced quietly, "because I don't want it."

Steve stepped in closer to the bed. "Sweetheart, they can have you walking again – and even running – in no time."

Jaime looked up at her doctors. "It IS my choice, right?"

"Of course it is, Honey," Rudy affirmed.

"Then thank you, but no. I just...can't. I feel like enough of a freak already." Jaime rolled over, with her back to the three men, before dissolving into tears. Steve immediately moved to comfort her, while Michael watched his friend and mentor slip silently from the room.

"Since you're done with your tests," Jaime continued, her back still turned, "I wanna go home, please."

"We'll talk about that tomorrow, Jaime," Michael told her. "You rest now, alright?" He left Jaime in Steve's hands (and in his arms) and went to find Rudy.

- - - - - -

Rudy was standing in his office, staring at a picture on the wall of a beaming Jaime, nestled happily in Steve's arms in front of a fireplace. Michael saw that his face looked almost as despondent as Jaime's.

"That smile..." Rudy said softly. "She could always light up the whole room; now I wonder if she'll ever smile like that again?"

"Of course she will," Michael told him, a hand on the older doctor's shoulder.

"This is all my fault -"

Michael frowned. "You know that's not true."

"Jaime risked her life to save me, and this is what it got her."

"And we'll make it right again. She'll change her mind; it'll just take some time. Jaime _will _walk again – and run, just like Steve was saying. If we can't persuade her, you know that he will." _I hope, _Michael finished silently, to himself.

- - - - - -

Steve knew he'd have plenty of time to work on changing Jaime's mind; right now, calming and comforting her were his only priorities. He gently drew her trembling body up into his arms and she leaned into his strength, her silent tears growing gradually into all-out sobs of grief, loss and fear. Steve held her without speaking, just rubbing her back and letting her get it out, until her cries quieted and she finally raised her head from his shoulder to look into his eyes.

"I wanna walk again, Steve – I do! - but...I'm so scared."

"I'll help you, Sweetheart, every step of the way. I'm not going anywhere."

"But I'd be – a robot...!"

Steve pulled her as close as possible, reaching all the way into her soul with his eyes. "Every bit of what makes you the woman I love is still there, Jaime, and it always will be."

"I love you, too," she whispered.

"Don't go home tomorrow, please?" he requested. "Stay a little while longer and at least explore the options more fully before you decide. Will you do that? For me? More important, will you do it for _you_?"

Jaime stared silently into Steve's loving eyes for what seemed like an eternity before answering with a nod and a single, whispered word. "Yes." Her own eyes slowly closed and, exhausted, she lowered her head onto his chest. Steve sat on the edge of the bed, holding her in his arms, long after Jaime fell asleep.

- - - - - -


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Rudy and Michael, both on their fourth cup of coffee, were hunched over Rudy's desk, deep in concentration as they studied the schematic drawings and medical charts Rudy had drawn up for Jaime's proposed surgery.

"It's pretty clear what needs to be done for her injured hip," Rudy pointed out. "No problems there. Now, on the healthy side..." Suddenly, Rudy's face blanched and he pushed his chair away from the desk, rising abruptly to his feet and pacing across the tiny office. Michael stared after him, waiting for the older man to say what was so obviously troubling him.

"My God, Michael, what are we doing?" Rudy agonized.

"The same thing we've always done," Michael answered carefully, not sure where this was going, "helping our patient."

"We're talking about removing healthy bone and tissue here! Not replacing damaged or missing limbs, but _good, strong tissue! _That's mutilation. I...I can't do it," Rudy finished, sinking wearily back into his chair.

"We _have _to do it that way, to allow Jaime to stay balanced, so she can run, jump and do everything she's used to doing."

Rudy was silent for a very long time, deep in thought. Michael tried not to intrude and busied himself with further study of the schematics. Rudy stared once again at the smiling, happy picture of Jaime, and it brought tears to his eyes. "There is another way," he finally said in a very quiet voice.

"What do you mean?"

"If we replaced just the damaged portion of her injured hip, it could – maybe – get Jaime up and walking again."

Michael shook his head. "Walking, maybe, but that's about all. She'd never be able to run, And she'd certainly never be bionic -"

"We'd have to turn her legs down to normal physical strength, yes," Rudy agreed. "But that would get her walking, and keep her under the fifty-percent mark she's having so much trouble with."

"Is that really enough?"

"Maybe not, but I do think we have to present the option to Jaime, and let her decide."

"I think it would be the wrong decision," Michael argued gently. "Besides, she's beginning to come around."

"Because she has no other choice but that wheelchair. _Here _is another choice. Michael, I have to tell her about it."

Michael saw the steely look in his friend's eyes and the firm set of his chin, and knew the discussion had ended.

- - - - - -

Steve learned about the new option at the same time Jaime did, and he forced himself to remain silent, knowing that the reaction here needed to be Jaime's.

"I would definitely be able to walk?" she asked cautiously.

"I can't guarantee it, Honey," Rudy admitted, "but the odds are very good."

"On my own?"  
"That's our hope."

Steve was a little confused. "You said before that you needed to work on both hips for Jaime to keep her equilibrium. Would she be solidly on her feet, or shaky?"

"My hope is that she'd be perfectly fine, walking at a slow, steady pace," Rudy explained, "but I'm not recommending one procedure over the other; I just wanted you to be aware of another possibility." He looked closely at Jaime, lying in the bed. She appeared to be hanging on his every word, and he didn't want to deceive her. "Honey, you would still have a great deal of limitation. We'd have to tune your legs down to normal, average strength, and walking would be as fast as you'd go."

"But I _would _walk?" Jaime queried.

"I believe so," Rudy affirmed.

"If it didn't work, would you still be able to...um...do the other surgery?"

Rudy nodded. "Yes, but we'd be looking at a second round of drastic, major surgery. You'd need time for the first procedure to heal, for your body to adjust to the shock. And any form of surgery always entails certain risks. If you think you'd be more comfortable, in the long run, with replacing both hips, then I'd recommend going that route right away, instead of making it your second choice. The less stress we have to put your body through, the better."

Jaime looked questioningly at Steve. "What do you think?"

He leaned over her bed, brushing the hair from Jaime's face and kissing her forehead. "I think you're the only one who knows what you're going to be comfortable with," he answered, "but I don't think you'll be happy long-term with the limitations Rudy mentioned. Especially when you could be completely normal...whatever that is."

"A perfectly normal robot-freak," Jaime whispered. "Do I have to give you the answer now?" she asked Rudy.

"Take all the time you need," the doctor replied. "I do think that the sooner we can get you up and around again, the better you'll feel, though."

"Yeah...I just need to think awhile." Jaime looked up into Steve's eyes, wishing the answer was there.

"I'll leave you two to talk," Rudy said, heading out the door, "but if you have any more questions or if you need anything at all..." He had to leave them before his own voice broke. _Help her, Steve, _the kindly doctor pleaded in his head. _Please help her._

- - - - - -


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

"So – what did she say?" Michael probed, the second Rudy returned to his office.

"She asked whether it was a sure thing, which it isn't, but neither is the other procedure. Michael, I wish you'd have come in there with me."

"You felt this was something you had to tell her; I felt it was a mistake," Michael said simply. "Jaime may jump on this option as a short-term solution to what's troubling her _mind_, but she won't be doing her _body_ any favors."

"_**She'll walk**_" Rudy argued. "That's pretty much the point, isn't it?"

"Like I said, in the short term, yes. For someone like Jaime who's been active her whole life, though...she'll never be content with that, and I think you know it."

"I just don't want her to feel worse than she already does."

"I'm thinking of Jaime's over-all well-being, for the rest of her life," Michael fumed, "and you want to put a band aid on a hemorrhage!"

"That's not a fair statement, Michael!"

Michael took several deep, calming breaths. He didn't want to hurt his friend, but he had to bring him back to reality. "Whose feelings are you more concerned with here – Jaime's, or your own?"

"I can't believe you're saying that!"

"Well?"

Rudy began to pace the tiny office for the second time in one day. "It **is**my fault she's in this situation; I will help her in any way possible. Period."

"Alright – why is it your fault that Jaime can't walk?"

"Aside from the fact that it was me she was trying to find when she was shot, and me she rescued on that injured hip, I was the one Havilland's been so angry with all these years – the reason any of this happened in the first place!"

"You didn't cause Jason Havilland to flunk his security check," Michael pointed out.

"Maybe not, but I could've pushed harder to get him approved anyway."

"Rudy," Michael sighed, "you're focusing on the past – the distant past – and we need to both be in the present here, to help our patient."

"I know that, but don't you think the decision should be Jaime's – after she's weighed every available option?"

"And if the single hip replacement doesn't work the way you think it will, and she still can't walk, think of what that'll do to her morale – and to any hope she might've managed to hang on to!"

Neither one of them noticed Steve, standing quietly in the doorway, until he finally spoke.

"Michael? You don't think Rudy's idea's gonna work...?"

Michael blinked and turned to Steve, struggling for an honest answer. "It does have as much chance of success as the two-hip surgery, but in the long run, I think Jaime will want to do more than just walk. I don't like the thought of putting her through **two **major surgeries. Rudy's intentions are only the best, but he feels responsible for Jaime's injury and wants to 'fix' her, causing as little emotional trauma as possible. The double-hip replacement will be harder for Jaime to deal with emotionally – yes – but long-term, it's the solution she'll be happiest with."

"I agree," Steve said quietly. "Her emotions are holding her back, and they're keeping her from looking at this realistically. It's so hard, helping her make this decision. I know how much she's hurting – I know exactly what she's going through. To tell her she needs to take on more pain, it's...hard." He looked at the two doctors, who both nodded empathetically. "But Rudy," he continued, "Jaime doesn't blame you for this and neither do I; you didn't kidnap yourself and you certainly didn't shoot her. Maybe you should talk to Jaime about how you're feeling?"

Rudy shook his head. "She doesn't need anything else to deal with now." A new question crossed his mind. "Is something wrong? Is that why you came looking for us?"

"No. Jaime asked for a few minutes alone, to think it all through. I should probably go back, though."

"Steve," Rudy said quickly, "Michael and I have both agreed to let Jaime make this decision, based on what she can deal with and what feels right to her."

Steve nodded. "Thank you." He headed back down the hall to Jaime's room, and the first thing he noticed as he approached the door was that Jaime was not in her bed. He made it to the bedside at bionic speed, and found her on the floor by the window, lying in a crumpled heap.

- - - - - -


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

"I'm ok," Jaime said very softly, without looking up.

"What happened?" Steve asked, almost daring to breathe again. He reached down to help Jaime back to bed, but she shook her head adamantly.

"It's only two or three steps to the window," she sighed, "and I couldn't even do that. I'm _gonna _get myself back in the bed."

"Jaime -"

"I _need _to do this!" She could move her feet and legs (just couldn't actually support her weight standing up), so Jaime began slowly inching her way across the floor then pulled herself onto the bed with the sheer strength of the bionics in her right arm and the muscles in her left. "There!" she said triumphantly. "At least I can put myself to bed." Her chin quivered slightly. "At least I can still do that..."

Steve gathered her into a tender embrace. "It'll be ok," he promised. "Whatever you decide to do, I'll be right here; I'm not going anywhere."

"Steve, I know you're right about what makes me human – what makes me '_**me**_' – but I don't want more of me to have wires than flesh and blood."

"I understand."

"I just wanna walk. I wanna know I can get from Point A to Point B without falling onto my own personal cushioned Point C. If there's a way to do that without becoming any more of a robotic freak, then that works for me."

"Sounds like you've decided," Steve ventured.

"Yeah, I have. Except..."

"What is it, Sweetheart?"

"There's something Rudy's not telling me."

"Huh?"

"Either I'm in worse shape than what he said or the operation is more dangerous, but he's holding something back. That's not like Rudy, and it scares me."

"You and Rudy really need to talk."

"There _is _something!"

"Well...yeah – it isn't your condition or the surgery, but he does have something on his mind."

"What is it?"

"You should talk to him, since -"

"_Austin_!"

"I'll go find Rudy for you," Steve told her, quickly heading out the door before jaime could weasel any more out of him. He nearly collided head-on into Michael. Suddenly, Steve had an idea. _I can't believe I'm about to say this, _he thought to himself. "Michael – just the person I wanted to see. I need your help. Actually, Jaime and Rudy need your help."

- - - - - -

Michael immediately agreed to Steve's plan; Jaime, however, wasn't in her most cooperative mood. "Why can't Rudy just come in here?" she grumbled. "I don't feel like going outside, and I _**don't **_want another chauffeured ride in that _thing_."

"Fresh air'll do ya good," Steve said lightly. "You haven't been out in days." _Hopefully, Rudy will open up, once he's out of the damn hospital, and when you see where I'm gonna park you..._

He wasn't actually lying to Jaime; he just wasn't _telling _her. Besides, he reasoned, the benefits (for Jaime AND Rudy) would be enormous – _if _his plan worked...

- - - - - -

Michael had already gotten Rudy to climb the hill behind National Medical with him, and they were supposedly surveying the surrounding area for possible expansion when Steve wheeled Jaime up to join them. He stopped her chair facing down into the schoolyard about a quarter mile away, where the track team was having a late afternoon practice.

"Very subtle, Austin," Jaime said, although she didn't appear angry. "Now please turn me the other way."

"Oh – sorry," he said, giving her shoulder a loving, little squeeze before turning the chair toward the river, where a group of youngsters were happily swimming on the other side.

"Try again," she said, slightly annoyed.

"I didn't think you'd wanna look at the same old hospital," he said, shrugging and turning the chair again. He glanced up at Michael. "Didn't you have something you needed to talk to me about?"

"You're right," Marchetti agreed. "Don't let us keep you from enjoying this beautiful afternoon, though," he told Rudy and Jaime. Before either of them could protest, he and Steve headed back down the hill and into the hospital.

"Jaime..." Rudy began awkwardly, "I hope you don't feel like I pressured you into one surgery over the other. I just want to do right by you, Honey...since this is my fault in the first place. I am so sorry that -"

"Whoa, Doc – back it up there! Your fault? You forced me to get outta bed and play detective?"

"Well, I -"

"You'd have been the first one to slap my butt back into my room with a good, firm talking to!" Jaime frowned, and her voice softened. "Rudy, what happened isn't your fault. Please know that. No one blames you -"

"_I do!" _a feminine voice insisted as its owner made her way up the hill to join them. The woman, her face drawn tight with anger and bitterness, held a small revolver in one hand. "My name is Connie _Havilland_, Doctor Wells, and I believe you know my husband."

- - - - - -


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

"You cheated my Jason out of his life's work," Connie Havilland snarled, her finger quivering on the trigger. "And now his _life_, too. He'll never come home again; I do hope you're about to die happy, Doctor."

"Your wonderful husband tried to kill us," Jaime said fiercely, wheeling herself between Rudy and the gun and glaring directly into the attacker's eyes. "I fail to see how that's anyone's fault but his own."

"Your daughter?" the woman asked Rudy, speaking over Jaime's head as if she wasn't there. "Poor thing; pity you couldn't recruit her into your robot army. You know, I have a daughter, too, and she's just about to graduate from high school, without her father there to see it!"

Jaime considered taking a bionic swing up at the woman's gun arm, but if it went wrong, she knew that one push or a tap from Connie's foot would send her rolling backward, straight into the river. She was directly in harm's way, and there was absolutely nothing she could do to save herself...or Rudy.

- - - - - -

Steve and Michael headed straight to the back file room, where they could look out the window at the results of their deceptions. "You think they were upset?" Michael mused on the way down the hall.

"Not nearly as much as I thought they'd be," Steve told him. "I half-expected Jaime to hand me my head – or worse - on a silver platter."

"Well, hopefully it'll do them both some good." Michael glanced out the window, frowned and did a double-take. "Who the hell is that?"

Steve peered outside, focusing his eye on the figures up on the hillside, and his blood turned ice cold. "I don't know – but she has a gun!"

- - - - - -

"Alright, Connie," Rudy conceded, "blame me if you have to, but leave my daughter out of it." Instinct told him that if his former partner's wife knew who Jaime really was (a recipient of the knowledge her husband had helped him acquire), they'd both be killed – and Jaime would be first.

"So she can go straight to the police and identify me?" Connie Havilland laughed bitterly. "I don't think so!" She took a step forward and put her gun to Jaime's head.

If Jaime swung her arm up now, she had every chance of knocking the gun away...straight up toward Rudy. She felt him grab the back of her chair, to push her out of the way, and Jaime made one last-ditch attempt to save them both, in the only way she could. In one split-second, she reached back with her right arm and shoved Rudy to the ground, then did a barrel roll out of the chair into Connie's legs, and both women began a life-or-death roll down the hill.

Inside the hospital, the instant Steve saw the gun, he sprang into immediate action. "Get back, Michael!" he said urgently, kicking out the window and nearly flying up the hill at the same moment that Jaime and the attacker were descending, both struggling for control of the gun. He was running too quickly toward the top as the two women came tumbling past him, and he turned back just in time to hear the gun go off – just once – and see Jaime and Connie both lying at the base of the hill, motionless.

His heart in his throat, Steve ran back down, crushed the gun with one foot and scooped Jaime carefully into his arms. Her eyelids fluttered and then opened, just as Connie Havilland – blood rushing out of a wound in her neck – convulsed once and then was still. Steve cradled Jaime close to his body, shielding her from the sight while Rudy made his way down the hill and Michael climbed through the now pane-less window to kneel beside the would-be killer. After a moment, he looked up at Steve and shook his head. There was nothing to be done for her.

"Why don't you take Jaime inside?" he suggested. Steve nodded and carefully stepped through the window. He found the nearest vacant room and laid Jaime gently on the bed. Her teeth were chattering and she was shaking, but she was alive...and safe.

- - - - - -


	7. Epilogue

Epilogue

Steve arranged the blankets around Jaime's trembling body while still holding her close in his arms. When her nerves had quieted a bit, he eased her into a prone position, all the while eying her very closely. "Are you hurt anywhere?" he asked anxiously. "Are you in pain?"

"I'm ok," Jaime affirmed, managing a wan smile to reassure him. "Just a little rattled, that's all." The color was already beginning to return to her face.

Steve had barely breathed a sigh of relief when he had another brief scare. Jaime looked up from the bed and smiled. "I'm in here, Dad!" she called out into the empty hallway.

_Dad? _Was she delirious – had she hit her head? Rudy soon joined them, sinking wearily into a chair but otherwise none the worse for what he'd just been through.

"We make a great team, don't we Dad?" Jaime said with a wink, reaching for the doctor's hand. Seeing Steve's confusion, she added "Tell ya later."

"We do make a great team, Honey," Rudy agreed, "but I do wish you'd stayed in your -"

"_In my wheelchair?_ Like a lamb at the slaughter?" Jaime shook her head. "That was the worst feeling, having to just sit there, not able to do anything! That woman...is she...?"

Rudy nodded. "She's dead, Honey."

"If it weren't for that damn chair – and my legs not working – I could've found some other way to stop her."

"Let me check you over," Rudy suggested, "and then after you rest here awhile, we'll get you back to your room. We'll have plenty of time to talk later."

"He's right, Sweetheart," Steve said gently. "You went through Hell today; you should just take it easy now – at least for a little while."

"No!" Jaime persisted. "No, I shouldn't! I _should _be on my way to Oscar's office to make a full report, _**not **_laying in this bed, waiting for someone to chauffeur me back to another damn bed!"

"Jaime..." Steve wished he knew the right words to comfort her.

"Just listen – please?" Jaime pulled herself up into a sitting position. "This," she said, motioning to her nearly useless legs, "is not me. I should've been able to stop that woman without...what happened."

Steve and Rudy glanced at each other. Jaime was on a major roll, and neither of them dared interrupt.

"I didn't choose to have wires and circuits where everyone else has flesh and blood," she continued, "but that's who and what I am now, and I've – pretty much – learned to accept that. I don't just wanna walk out of this hospital – I wanna walk _back into my life!_ If a few extra circuits and wires are what it's gonna take, then that's what I'll have to do, 'cause I want my life back. _All of it._"

Jaime smiled and laid back onto the pillow. She'd had her say and was suddenly completely spent.

"Have I told you today how much I love you?" Steve said softly, bending down to kiss her. "I'll...just tell you later."

Jaime was already sound asleep.

END


End file.
